Friday, February 28, 2014

So myself like many people enjoy playing Hearthstone. I for one never thought it would be a game I would enjoy playing, but I do for whatever reason. The game has been in beta for awhile and even has been in Open Beta for quite some time now. There has been talk about what exactly is going on with the game. Sure it is just starting out and has a smaller team but the questions are still there. This brings me to this week's Reader Post by Traja who is voicing the concerns of many.

Lot's of people believe in Hearthstone (i'm one of them), some of us decided to support the game by investing some money in it, others made websites, hosted tournaments and helped greatly the game by supporting the community.I know the game is in open Beta yet i'm concerned about what will happen after the release date, i think that it's time for Blizzard to be more open about what kind of support ( in terms of periodic content update) we can expect from them for the future of the game?Since they are hiring staff for the game it definitely sounds like they are committed to it. I'd like to know what kind of expansion schedule they have planned as well. If it's longer than 6 months between expansions I think a lot of folks will lose interest. Many of the players who have tested since the beginning are already posting that they are getting bored. So I think they will need at minimum 2 expansions per year, and 3 would be even better.Also important to know would be their plans for set rotation. Will they rotate old sets out of ranked/arena play eventually? Or will all cards from all sets always be available? There would probably need to be a lot of rebalancing of old cards interacting with the new cards for that to work.This is a concern, because Blizzard has always been a very slow developer, and they have been slow this time around as well. Card games require more frequent expansions than most other genres. I have high hopes for the game just hope Blizzard doesn't let me down.

Thanks to Traja and everyone else who sent something in. As always this wouldn't be possible without you. Have a good weekend everyone!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

In case you have been living under a rock Diablo III's patch 2.01 hit on Tuesday. WHy is this a big deal? The question should be why isn't it a big deal. If you don't know what is going on with this patch you can check out the patch notes. So as a simple breakdown what do you have to look forward to?

Classes have gone through a massive change you really won't recognize their abilities

Difficulty changes there is a lot to go over but it has changed

Dynamic leveling. Monsters level with you. No more "cheating" in Hardcore

Itemization has been completely redone.

Drops are smarter

There are new item affixes

Monster affixes have changed it is best to read up on them

Paragon has been changed it is account wide!

Clams have been added for people who care about that sort of thing

That is just a simple breakdown of what the patch has in it. You don't need to have RoS to take part in these things but this is reminding us that RoS is on its way. I for one cannot wait for the 25th to come around so I can play it. Happy Demon Slaying everyone!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Voice acting. Something which has become second nature in games. Something which we have come to take advantage of. The amount of talent some of these people have is tremendous. The way they can model themselves and their voice to be what we as gamers expect it to be. There are bad voice acting experiences with anything. The Tidus laughing sequence in Final Fantasy X comes to mind, but with the bad also comes the good and the great. So this brings me to this week's list my 5 favourite voice actors.

5. Dave Mallow

Quite often refereed to as the narrator since so many times in games he is just that or HQ or the voice on the other end of the mic. He is the one when you are playing a game you recognize the voice but you just don't know where from. Some of his more popular roles are Lor'themar from WoW, Soul Calibur's Narator, CoD:Black Ops Richard Nixon and Tekken's Paul Phoenix

4. Roger Craig Smith

Probably one of the most well known voice actors since he always is the one to strike a particular one of his voices whenever he is out and about. He has the ability to be the roles he is doing, and you actually wonder how that voice came out of that person. His most popular roles being Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed, Chris Redfield from Resident Evil, and of course he is Sonic the Hedgehog

3. Troy Baker

What is there really to say about this guy. He is truly one of the elite. He becomes part of the character just as much as anyone. There is never a bad sequence for him and for a voice actor that truly is a difficult thing. Some of his roles have been Joel from The Last of Us, Joker from Arkam Orgins, Snow from Final Fantasy XIII series, and the Scoundrel from Diablo III.

2. Nolan North

He is everywhere. Or maybe that is just what it seems. You would actually be surprised knowing he played some of the characters you have known and loved over the years. His ability to make something special for a character is just that special. I could list forever with some of his more popular roles but here are just a few Hell in Saint's ROw IV he even has a voice option called Nolan North. Some others include Nathan Drake from Uncharted, Desmond Miles from Assassin's Creed, Deadpool from X-Men games, and The Prince from Prince of Persia.

1. Liam O'Brien

Now Liam may not have the resume of Troy or Nolan North but I have never heard any voice that he has ever done and not appreciated everything it had. He is the type of voice actor that everything he says can turn into an epic speech at any moment. You know and recognize him because of those epic lines which stick with you. THey are the lines you say to your friends, and this is the very reason he is my favourite. Here are some of his big ones Illidan Stormrage from WoW, Caius Ballad from Final Fantasy XIII series, League of Legends Yasuo, and the Ghost from Starcraft II.

There you have it this week's list. What do you think? Is there a voice you cannot get out of your head? Which sticks with you no matter what you play?

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Fail Day! Yes it is that time of the week for something special, something from the heart, well something to make someone out there feel like a tool. So I am often asked first of all if I am a hardcore gamer and second of all what actually makes a hardcore gamer? Well I thought about doing this on Ask Gauss for awhile but I figured Fail Day would make this just so much more fun. So here goes.

You Fail At Being A Hardcore Gamer If...

You think at all before picking the difficulty

You have ever taken a selfie of yourself with a remote in your hands

Your most played game is Call of Duty

You enjoy playing Halo

You cannot explain the difference between and RPG and an ARPG

Graphics are everything

You have never based your schedule off of a release of a game

You have have never waited for hours for a midnight launch

Your gamer take has x's surrounding the name

You don't know who Leroy Jenkins is

The words "it is just a game" has ever came out of your mouth

You don't know what Esports is

You own an Xbox

You don't have Dark Souls stories

You don't know how to tell the dead to rest in peace in Latin

and finally

You are excited for Titanfall

There you have it this weeks edition of fail. Hope you all enjoyed and happy gaming!

Monday, February 24, 2014

Monday and fresh off the Canadian Gold Medal in Men's Hockey. So now the entire focus can now switch off the Olympics. Now since it is Monday it is time to showcase a machinima for all of you to see. Now when I came across this Machinima from AFK Players I couldn't stop laughing for pretty much the entire thing. If you have played Hearthstone or you have seen it be played you are in for quite a treat. Even if you haven't though there is still so much laughing ready to happen. So here it is

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Sunday! Here we go end of the weekend I could make many a things with all the tears shed on this day. Alas that is not what I am here to do though. It is Sunday which means it is time to go through some questions and answer them here. If you still are unsure of how to send in your questions all the options are at the top right of the page or if you are lazy just send them to gaussafication@gmail.com. So let's get to it.

I assume you have had a look at the new Tauren Model what do you think?

It is what I expected. Just like the others updated the number of polygons to fit in with the current level of the gaming world. It doesn't look like a model from way back when anymore. What I am really interested in is how this will lead into the new Baine Model. Every other Leader has their own and isn't a small change from the base model. So as it is good to see these updated models they are what is expected while the Baine I expect to be much different.

Without any spoilers was the ending to Lightning Returns a good one?

I would say yes. When games have had multiple releases and plot which has been quite involved you are worried when things end that they won't actually take care of things. I was happy with how things ended. Sure were a couple things that I was like "really" to but it wasn't that it was bad but just wouldn't have been my choice is all. I cannot say I was unhappy with the ending though which is the important thing. If you have played the other games and played through to the end here I don't see how you could be disappointed when it was over.

So TItanfall won't be on PS4 sucks to be you.

Because I was actually looking forward to playing CoD with robots...

There you have it questions answered for the week. Thanks to everyone who sent something in if I answered it on here or not. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Friday! Yes here we are at the end of the week. All of us wondering what we are going to be doing for the weekend. Before all of that comes to pass though we have this little thing in Gauss Land known as the Reader Post. Now this week's post comes to us from Wade. We were having a discussion about build orders in Starcraft and how important they are. Why some people end up winning when they shouldn't at lower levels but then get crushed completely when moving on up. So I figured I would share something Wade had said to me so here it is.

People do irrational things in Starcraft and Starcraft 2 all the time, even win with build orders which are non-viable. Just because you won with a build order does not make it the correct thing to have done. It just means you got lucky and didn't die to a rush, or it means you have been lucky and haven't faced opponents who realized the timing of the attack would work.Almost every major, standard build order used in casual gaming and pro gaming is actually non-viable, because it is defenseless, or nearly so against some form of rush. It gets used because people don't always understand the timing attack or rush exists.In order to be viable, the opening of a build must have at least a 50% chance of winning, regardless of what the opponent does, otherwise what's the point?If your build cannot stop the fastest possible rush on that map at least 50% of the time, then you should not be using it, even if people almost never use that rush.Unfortunately, you can actually get a higher win rate over all by playing the wrong build, because people are not properly understanding the availability of these early attacks.Things like map design change whether or not an opening build is safe. Even build which is safe on most maps is not guaranteed to be safe on ally maps. You're half a screen closer, and that makes all the difference; the build you thought was safe and reliable gets you killed.

Thanks to Wade for the conversation and thoughts. Al;so thank you to every else who sent something in. Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

So I have always told myself not to get angry or upset with gaming reviews. It doesn't really serve a purpose and a lot of the time you can tell how some reviewers may have been guided on how their review should have actually gone. Now with that in mind I have not been this angry or upset with a review in quite some time. Now everyone can have an opinion. It is your right to have one. When you complain about things which make you look stupid to those who have played the game or know the series or just games in general you make yourself look bad first off but then you could actually sway people from actually getting a game.

I recently read a review on the Financial Post of all things on Lightning Returns. So I am going to rant a bit about the review and there may be some spoilers so keep that in mind, but I will try my best to not have any.

The review started off by complaining there wasn't enough of a "Catch up" for those who didn't play the previous games. Now there is like a 5 minute type "catch up" video wise plus the ENTIRE PRIMER you can read which gives you everything you could ever want to know. Of course the review never mentions anything about this. Now this makes me ask the question. For people who are playing a game and not taken part in the previous games besides being weird I would think you should be responsible for doing some of your own homework. Just like a movie you don't go and watch the Return of the King and have no idea who Frodo is.

Went on to talk about how the story talks to much about God and some people and how it is offensive. Seriously? Have we actually come to this in games. it doesn't talk about a known religion. It is a fantasy universe with made up religions but we are going to be offend by this because there is someone called God? Get over this political correctness crap it has ruined the way everything is interpreted.

Then the game doesn't give you enough direction about what you are suppose to do and the time constraints make you stressed and should be eliminated as it is "unfun". First of all wow you want your hand held. Have you ever played a Final Fantasy game before? Or any game which doesn't have arrows telling you exactly where you are supposed to go. Not everything has to be handed to you. You know games can have some kind of difficulty. Same goes for the timing it is a mechanic which makes you actually think about what you are doing and in all honestly once your EP is high enough time is not even a factor and you end up waiting around with nothing to do.

There is more but I think this is plenty to understand my thinking on why people like this are actually allowed to review games. It truly boggles my mind. Now I know Lightning Returns isn't the best game ever made but it is a good game and has been a lot of fun for me. Sure it is not everyone's cup of tea but you know what neither is any other game that has ever been made.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Wednesday middle of the week here we are. Now I get a lot of flack for some posts I do, but it is rarely an occasion I get some for one I didn't do. Last week it wasn't that people were upset with the list I chose to do. It was the fact I didn't do a couples focused list since Valentines was on Friday. So with that in mind I am going to please the masses this week. No I am not going to do my favourite couples because I don't think that would be to interesting or that surprising. I am going to do my favourite couples moments. So here we go

5. Stenier and Beatrix Defend Alexandria - Fina; Fantasy IX

You know there is a lot of talk which goes on and on about how Zidane and Garnet may be one of the best love stories in all of Final Fantasy. Now that may actually be true but this doesn't discount how this moment in Final Fantasy 9 is not only my favourite couples moment in the game, but one of my favourite there is. Anytime I am discussing anything to do with love stories or couples in games this always comes up and it will not be a change. Plus epic music during the whole thing!

4. My Pleasure Darling - Starcraft II Star of the Swarm

Starcraft is mostly known for its Esports endeavors but what some don't know is it has a great story as well. So much happened in this scene with so little words. You can't help watch it without having some feels. Also makes you extremely pumped for the next game.

3.Clowns - Uncharted 2

I know I talk about his moment all the time. It is just that good and how could I even have a couples list without having maybe my favourite video game couple in it. Also this is the ending to Uncharted 2 it's awesome.

2. Christina's Death - Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

This scene is just one of those WOW scenes in video games. I said before when I did my death list that nothing really even compared to this one. The impact it had on the character involved was massive. How different would it have been if she lived? The the line so simple but sticks with you requiescat in pace...my love

1. Yuna Runs Through Tidus - Final Fantasy X

There are moments and then there is this one. Now the others are great but this is just on such a larger scale and something which I believe made Final Fantasy X the success it was. This is the moment you talk about being the first time it ever happened. This is also the reason I am so looking forward to the HD remaster of this game.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Fail Day and I am pretty sure if you have been around here long enough you knew this Fail Day was coming. There may be minor spoilers but nothing major so you really shouldn't be worried about such things. So with the fine print out of the way let's get to it.

You Fail At Lightning Returns If...

You are stressed out by the timing factor

You don't believe the story should be confusing

You like kid Hope

You don't make your Lightning look stupid with adornments

You don't check libra conditions when complaining a fight is to difficult

Monday, February 17, 2014

Monday! Up and over here in Canada and specifically Ontario it is known as Family Day. Basically comes down to getting the day off. Still not sure why it is called Family Day unless they want us to ignore our familys for the rest of the year. You are not here to talk about holidays though you are here to see what Machinima I am showcasing this week. This week I have treat. It is a teaser trailer for an upcoming 3D Machinima known as "Children of Stone". From the teaser I have high expectations of Xim Voodoo. Check it out below and make your own decision.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Sunday! Last day of the weekend and the day Canada plays its next Hockey game. Have you been following the Olympics thus far? Being Canadian it is pretty much the thing to do, especially hockey. Everyone stops to watch the game no matter what they are doing something truly Canadian I guess. Anyways, though before heading off and watching the game how about I answer some of the questions sent to me this week.

Hoe does Lightning Returns compare with the other FFXIII titles?

Honestly I think it may be the best of the 3. I haven't completed it yet probably will today but I just find the battle mechanics make this game great. The story while a little confusing at some points(although purposely) has been something I have actually enjoyed much more than I thought I would. Their is some voice acting which has made me shake my head but when everything is voiced in game I always find this ends up being the case. The most important thing I have been impressed with so far has been the difficulty. Now the game isn't brutally hard but it isn't easy and this is something which to me is often overlooked nowadays.

Did you see that Heroes of the Storm might to preparing to head to beta?

From what I saw. It looked like it was moving out of Blizzard Employee alp. So I think this leads me to believe there might be a Friends and family alpha before we see a beta but you never know. Also keep in mind there will probably be a friends and family beta before the closed beta. Now I am excited to play this game as I think it has a ton of potential but I realistically don't see a beta happening until after Reaper of Souls is released.

Coolest thing you have seen this week?

This was added to the WoW Fan Art section think it is pretty awesome.

There you go questions answered for the week. Enjoy what is left of your weekend!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Friday. Yes we are finally here. The day of the week where we can relax and prepare for the weekend. It is also time for the Reader Post and this week I have a submission from Requimourn who is talking about some new announcements in the upcoming Reaper of Souls. Let's see what he has to say.

I usually don't take part in discussions adn normally sit back and watch things appear in front of me, but if just to balance out the negativity regarding the recent announcement a little bit, I wanted to say thank you to Blizzard for taking steps towards making the loot 2.0 a rewarding experience by removing the ability to enchant vanilla items.

Personally, the thought that I needed to start buying items with the best enchanting potential now and, come RoS, I would never be able to find anything better was mind-wrecking.

First of all, what would be the point of playing if I already had the best item the game had to offer?

Second, seeing someone brandishing a perfect enchanted vanilla item would probably make me a sad panda because I would never be able to count myself amongst the best of the best, since I haven't been lucky enough with my drops in vanilla. See, even if a game is seemingly not competitive, people still tend to compete. They do that by comparing their own achievements and/or efficiency with other people's and I'm sure I don't have to mention this, but D3 is a game very much about efficiency.

I can't fathom why so many players seem fixated on keeping their vanilla items and making them imbalanced, when in doing so they pretty much defeat the object of the game - which is always finding better loot to be more effective in finding better loot.

People can be very ignorant about what makes a great game when they have even the tiniest stake to lose. To be honest though, I'm not even worried that Blizzard will revert their decision. I'm sure they realize that the negativity is only generated by the vocal minority, while the vast majority that is/will be appreciative of this stays out of the forums. In fact, I'm pretty certain that all the nay-sayers will eventually be turned around as well.

As always thanks to everyone who sent something in I read them all even if they do not get posted here. Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

So as always when I play a game which just came out this is not going to contain any spoilers just my thoughts on the game thus far and what I like about it. Mostly do to the fact I want to get back to playing it. So now since that is covered what do I think.

Now I am not going to deny I am a Final Fantasy fanboy I love the games and have since I was a kid. Sure I like some better than others and I am critical when I I don't like something. SO if you are just going to LOL Sqaure and omg remake FF7 already then I don't actually care what you have to say. So what I was expecting before I started playing was a story which gets you right into it right away. I didn't want it to progress slowly because after all it is supposed to be the end of the world. It doesn't you get right into it and you have the freedom to go to any of the main locations as long as you obey the time constraints. After all the main point of the game is the world is ending you have to do something to prevent it.

This is Square Enix game so you expect top not visuals and they do not disappoint the environments are every you would expect them to be and the character models are probably some of the best if not the best I have come across on the PS3. This of course we take for granted in the series but still worth pointing out.

The battle system is actually better than I expect it punishes you for making mistakes and get rewarded for doing things well. Also being able to move around on the battlefield is nice but it is slow enough that it doesn't seem to matter. I will point out though when dealing with multiple enemies the camera and the movement become much more important to surviving the battle.

The customization is nice and I haven't had the time to go all out with it, but I know when I have the time I will be doing so. I have just been wanting to get right back into the action, which really is the most important thing in my books.

So I like the game especially with what I have gone through thus far. If you enjoy the series or the character it has been a great addition thus far and if you don't want to play the other 2 games but this one looks interesting to you they do a great job at summarizing the story thus far for those needing a catch up. So really what it comes down to is check it out.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Here we are one day into playing Lightning Returns. Games been pretty good so far, but what about what has happened up until this game was released? That's what I first thought about when making the list for this week. So that is what it is going to be. My favourite moments from Final Fantasy XIII series before Lightning Returns was released. Here goes.

5. Fighting Cid

I just love this boss fight challenging and well thought out. Plus all the story involved in it made it that much more awesome to be apart of. Rarely in games is there this much involved in a boss fight during the middle portion of a game and I think that is often overlooked. Here is to hoping there is more of this not only in Final Fantasy games in the future but all games.

4. Snow Saves Hope

Everyone may have hated Hope when he was just this little obnoxious kid but you couldn't help but have a soft spot when Snow saved him. Also with the speech which followed when he was atoning for what happened to Hope's mother. Was a great moment and realyl set the tone for the rest of the game.

3. Caius Speech

Of any moment in the series this is probably the speech of speeches. With all the sad moments and the epic battles this is one which everyone will remember. I often reply this part of the game just to hear this speech over and over. I know its weird but it points to how amazing the speech itself is.

2. Lightning Punches Snow

Not only was this completely unexpected but it was awesome. She completely owned the guy with a punch when he is the one who goes around punching everyone and everything. I don't know how many times I have watched the seen and never once did I not smile.

1. Don't Forget Me

Not only did this scene have dem feels. It was believable and really showed how this game has come together. Remember it all started being about 2 sisters and this is the way it should have came together. This really is the moment which not only leads directly into the next game but the reason the games exist in the first place.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Happy Fail Day! Also Happy Lightning Returns release! If you are like my you are already playing and excited as hell to play the new installment, but what about Final Fantasy in general? How much do you know? Well let's see shall we?

You Fail At Final Fantasy If...

You have never listened to "One Winged Angel"

You don't refer to everyone with a pointy hat a Vivi wannabe

The line "I dreamt I was a moron" doesn't make you smile

You have no clue who the light warriors are

You don't compare every summon in every games damage to Knights of the Round

When a new game comes out you don't sit back and wait for the arrival of Cid

You have no clue what a Chocobo is

You don't understand what the Suffixes "ara" and "aga" are

You don't think Kefka is the creepiest clown ever conceived

You don't know the name of the spikey haired guy

You didn't appreciate the throw back style of Final Fantasy IX

Sephiroth Who?

You don't knowwhat people are talking about when they say "the kiss"

and finally

You have no idea who Hironobu Sakaguchi is

There you have it this week's edition of fail. Enjoy saving souls as much as I will be!

Monday, February 10, 2014

Monday! Not to mention we are only a day away from the release of Lightning Returns. Call me a fanboy if you want but I am actually quite excited for this game and knowing how this story is going to finish. This is why for this week's Machinima Monday I decided to go with a trailer for the game done in a well... interesting fashion. One you will just have to watch to appreciate. So have a look at get as pumped as I am

Now wasn't that pretty sweet? Anyways, we are on the home stretch not much of a wait now.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Sunday! Nothing like a day with pancakes and watch the Olympics. Although no hockey yet put I think I will survive at least for now. Anyways all that has nothing to do with gaming but me answering some questions about gaming kind of does. So why don't we do that.

What cosmetic changes are you hoping they add to WoW?

Well before Warlords was announced I would have said new character models and player housing. Now we are getting new character models and garrison, which I am hoping is player housing. So what else? Well I would just like more character or mount customization. So being able to trangsmog things which currently aren't able to be transmoged would go a long way. Many people have earned Legendaries and would love to show them off. Not to mention all the holiday gear. Would also make people less streamlined and isn't that the point of transmog in the first place? Also I would love to some how get customizations to your mount. Maybe armor, flags, anything really something which makes you different then everyone else. I know it seems silly but cosmetically it is important.

Anything interesting this week?World of Warcraft went up in subscriptions. Apparently I wasn't the only one who decided to come back. It seems others have made the same choice. I find this extremely interesting not only because it is the first time in over 2 years the number has gone up but it is at the tail end of an expansions a time which has always even during the highest of times saw a decline. Truly makes me think quite a large number of people are interested in Warlords of Draenor.Isn't Lightning kind of like a ret pally?

That will be all the questions for the week. Thanks to everyone who sent one or many in as always would not be possible without your questions. Enjoy what is left of your weekend.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Happy Saturday everyone :) Hope your weeks were fantastic. Gauss and I have played World of Warcraft officially again for a month now. :) We have had nothing but good experiences. We've been welcomed back by old friends, resuming play as if we never left. It's nice.The other day, we did the first part of The Siege of Orgrimmar for the week, and Gauss was like "It would be nice if this part was a naval battle. They don't seem to have any naval battles in this game", and I was like "Yes the fuck they do, Gunship in ICC is a naval battle." And then he was like "Omg Amber you are so retarded, *laughs* the ships were built to fly over Icecrown." And then I was like "Yeah, but technically it is a naval battle because they are ships. Whether they are in the water or not they are a naval unit." And then he was like, "I dare you to open a ticket to Blizzard and ask a GM what they think." And I was like, Challenge Accepted.

Now, I posted this on our Facebook page as soon as I got the response to my ticket. It may be small, but if you go to the facebook page it's there and easy to read but it definitely says "Gunship is a naval battle" Biggest smile i've had on my face all day. HAHA I WIN. That really never happens. Oh and don't judge me by my UI. lol it works ok?Now, here comes the sad part. Unfortunately, Real life has been very cruel to me. Going through alot at the moment and it will hinder my being able to post to you guys and gals every Saturday. So it will be goodbye for NOW. But I will return as soon as I get everything sorted out. You guys have been really good to me, with my noobish attempt at being a blogger. Thanks for the support and the love. Means the world to me. Hope all your Saturdays will be fantasticker then the last. :)lol and don't mind my terrible grammar above with "And I was like" 5000 times. Legit no other way I couldn't described it.qedsafiree@gmail.com-Safiree xo

Friday, February 7, 2014

Happy Friday everyone isn't it great to be at the end of the week. Olympics are starting up which means myself and every other Canadian will have their eyes on Men's Hockey. Sometimes I do feel bad for the other Canadian athletes who work so hard and will always play second fiddle to the Hockey. Regardless of that every athlete from every country there should be proud of themselves.

Now that the sappy moment is out of the way today being Friday means it is time for this week's Reader Post. Now this is something which to me is important and not just for Hearthstone. You see being a gamer doesn't have to mean insulting someone's mother and bitch about everything. Believe it or not you can thank a person for a game and wish them well. I know crazy concept to some but it exists. This week I was sent something from Itsacardgame who is confused on people's reaction to saying "Well Played" in Hearthstone for a look.

So I was playing Hearthstone and some decided to friend my and be overly angry with me because I decided to say "well played" when I was about to win. I say "well played" before I complete a round because it's important to me to convey to my opponent that I enjoyed a game, on the off chance that I lose attention for a moment, or just don't get over to my emote list quickly enough after I land the killing blow to shoot it out to them. I also try to send people a WP when they make a move that I know has defeated me - buff a minion enough in the turn that I know I'm going to die, congratulate them on the play. Or just pull something off that I'm impressed/amused by - kill/steal one of my minions, knock me down by a fair shake of health by creative deck usage, etc. The HP count in this game is obvious. And by the last round, it's a pretty simple subtraction problem to determine if you're going to win or not - I just don't see the problem.Dare I suggest that this might boil down to a perception bias? Some players seem to view the WP as a sarcastic/condescending move - people use it according to some people to make fun of their opponent, rather than to convey a sense of respect and enjoyment of the experience. I'm actually guilty of the same view of Threaten - especially when that's used at the end of a game when my opponent has clearly won.It's a limitation of the limited conversation system, honestly. We just can't really know what an opponent is thinking other than what we choose to take from it.I dare say the best advice I can give you is to just squelch everyone and spare yourself the annoyance it you believe this game is anything but fun.

As always thanks to everyone who sent something this would not be possible without you. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Gamers like many other people hate change. We get used to something and when something changes even the smallest things we get up in arms about it. We care about the games we play and when something happens which we think may change the experience and love we have for that game we go crazy. This is why deaths of characters especially well liked and loved ones never go over with the community well. Even if the story fits and helps the game progress it will never make people forget about it.

With all of that in mind I say Voice acting is important. Just looked at what has happened when it was announced David Hayter is no longer going to be the voice of Snake, and that game isn't even out yet. Remember the uproar when Tricia Helfer became the new voice of Sarah Kerrigan the community went mad. No one can say she has done a bad job she has done a marvelous job with it but I don't think anyone could forget the threats to boycott the game over it.

Change has to happen and I am one who realizes this sometimes people aren't available or maybe someone will just do a better job. Now of course if tomorrow I found out Nolan North was no longer going to be the voice of Drake I would be confused and probably angry but I would respect Naughty Dogs choice because I think they know what is best for their game and what works. Just don't ever expect me to not remember the way things used to be.

So if you learn anything from this post my fellow gamers change can be good after all don't our own voices change as we get older? Respect when changes are made but just don't forget the way things used to be.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Middle of the week got here fast didn't it? Well at least for myself. What does one do here in Gauss land on hump day? Well we make a list and cause people to angry at one another for no reason because such and such didn't make the list. Since we are less than a week till the release of Lightning Returns I thought we would do a Final Fantasy list. Not characters or anything like that but a list which shows off my favourite summons from the games history. So let's do this thing

5. Anima

A powerful yet quite disturbing looking summon. Like most powerful summons in Final Fantasy games it was tough to find and fun to battle yourself against. Once you had it in your arsenal though Yuna became and even bigger threat. When Final Fantasy X finally comes out in HD this is something I am really looking forward to seeing.

4. Odin

Odin has been in many Final Fantasy games over the years and I would think is a favourite of many. My favourite version of him is from Final Fantasy 8 and not just because of the whole palace of problems you had to go through to get him but because he saved your ass so many times. I don't know how many times I prayed for him to come and kill Malboros for me

3. Zodiac

Not only is Zodiac one of my favourite summons it happens to be one of the best visuals I may have ever seen in Final Fantasy. I talk about Anima and how I cannot wait to see it in HD glory this is in a whole category in its own. In addition I would rate the boss fight to get this as easily in my top 5 hardest boss fights in Final Fantasy history. Goes without saying I was glad this was done with when I finally got it.

2. Gilgamesh

Yes he has been in many Final Fantasy and yes he started out as a joke character. His latest iteration though is my favourite. Not only because he was one hell of a boss fight not only because who he was but how well he was done. You could see the effort put into it for the fans. Then of course being able to use him is a whole different matter. He is just fun and that's what games are supposed to be right?

1. Knights Of The Round

Probably the single most dominating summon ever made. Especially considering you can also mod it to go off more than once. I don't think we will see a summon which is this dominating again but then again to get this you needed a Golden Chocobo which was no small feat in itself. Watch the video just to get them feels back.

There you have it my Favourite summons from Final Fantasy. Have some you like adn I missed let me know.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

So here we are 1 week from the release of Lightning Returns. Are you ready? Now of course there will probably be people who will say no because they won't play it because blah blah blah and blah blah blah. I get it you don't like Final Fantasy but guess what I do so honestly your opinion on this matter really doesn't matter to me. With this in mind let's find out if you truly are ready.

You Fail At Being Ready For Lightning Returns If...

You don't understand why Lightning is in a Soldier uniform.

You refuse to play a game with a female lead

You don't think a gunblade is one of the greatest weapons in games ever

You frequently ask the question "who is Serah?"

You are not like every else wondering why Snow is "bad"

You didn't make a list of all the characters you saw in the trailers

You don't believe Caius is an epic Villain

You don't use Ruinaga just to see the explosion

You are not in awe of Army of One

You weren't making 13 days to go jokes last week

Giant pumpkins don't strike fear into you

You preferred hope as a kid

and finally

You didn't play part 1 or 2

There you have it this week's edition of Fail. Hope you all enjoyed it and hopefully this week doesn't last too long and we can get to playing this game.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Happy Monday everyone! Now I could go on and on about why Monday sucks but I am not going to do that today because the video I want to showcase for Machinima Monday is something I think everyone should see. Now it won't be a machinima or an animation this week but kind of a live action. You see this is more of a state of mind of playing Starcraft. Even if you don't understand the game I think you can appreciate what he is saying as a gamer. So take a look at WinterStarcraft's- A Blank Canvas.

I know you are smiling and nodding right now, and I am here to tell you that's ok. Enjoy your Monday!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope your week has been good. Mine hasn't been that bad. Today would mark my 1 month being back in WoW and I must even with all the changes it has been fun. Sure a lot has changed but I am really enjoying my time playing. Something I wasn't really doing before I stopped playing. Once again thanks to everyone for there support and all of you who have came by and said hello. Tried to respond to all of you if I didn't keep trying and call me an asshole for not getting back to you sooner.

Now it is Sunday after all so why don't we get these questions answered.

So you have been back to WoW for a bit do you plan at going hard into raiding?

I have done some LFR and even a little flex and while LFR in my opinion isn't really raiding it does have a little spark for me. I can say for sure though I don't plan on going crazy into raiding any time during Mists. Not saying I won't do some raids but I have no plan to go all crazy. Now will I raid I raid in the future? That is still up in the air. Warlords interests me and I have had a lot of old time raiders tell me if I start up they will gladly follow me. Honestly I don't know if I should take this as a complement for how I ran raids or not. Many people used to say I was tough on people when was raiding. I demanded a lot from people, but never more then I thought they could give. I think at the time it may have made some people angry but now after the fact and with them being in some other environments they see what I was trying to do. So hearing back from them now I can see they appreciated what I brought to them and their raiding career.

Do you think the PS4 came out to early? There is like hardly any games.

Truly I would say yes, but it is like this with every new generation. There is a select few games which come out and then there is also overlap from the previous generation games still coming out. Now would it make more sense to have the system come out in may when the last generation games out. Maybe but then there would be too little games coming out before the new system was out. So while it is not the perfect system it works and if you are worried about no games the best thing to do is wait till the old generation games stop coming out before you buy the new system.

What mount you currently using?

For now at least.

There you have it this week's questions answered. Thank you to everyone who sent something in this wouldn't be possible without you doing so.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Happy Saturday, everyone :) Hope your weeks were amazing. Gauss and I are still playing World of Warcraft, and enjoying every second of it. Except the mass amount of dailies in Pandaria. I've just a couple more to get exalted with until I take a break from them. LFR's are such an amazing/terrible concept. Wish they would've put them in sooner. Terrible because it's like people just came from League of Legends and if you mess up once, they will call you everything they can think of, and insult your mother in some form lol. Awesome because we don't have the stress of relying on 23 others to be on in time for raid. :)Past week, i've been reading my Arthas book I bought years ago. Upset that I didn't take the time to read it sooner. Just one of those things you never want to end. I love Arthas Menethil and his lore. I hate endings. So as long as I read this book nice and slow I can enjoy it for as long as my excitement will allow. It's amazing the detail that is overlooked in alot of the game itself. I now understand the depth on how beautiful the cinematic after killing The Lich King, is. Happy endings everywhere :DOfficial trailer for Elder Scrolls online was really disappointing, and anti climactic. Especially with the music. It was insanely boring. I feel bad for all the fans waiting in anticipation to play it. Anyways, hope you guys have a great week. WE DEFEATED GARROSH!!. I hate trolls, but Vol'jin is pretty cool.- For the Horde!-Safiree